Answer the Damn Question!
by Scifiroots
Summary: A short alternate ending to CotBP with a small suggestion of slash. JackWill.


Answer the Question, Damnit!

By Clarity Scifiroots

**Pairing**: Jack / Will (implied/pre)

**Disclaimers**: The delightfully engaging film _Pirates of the Caribbean_ does not connect to me in any way other than my passion for it. Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom obviously own themselves, so I believe it's clear that only the story plot is my own. But wouldn't this have made a better ending to _Curse of the Black Pearl_?

**Summary**: A short, alternate ending, favoring the slash fans. (Timeline prior this is just as it is in the movie, with the exception of the ending. Will goes along with Jack and they aren't stopped by the guard.)

"Do you need me?"

"What are you doin'? Let go of me – that's my ship waitin' over yonder and I damn well mean to get to 'er before it's decided that that she's to be blown from the water!" Jack tugged the arm Will was grasping but didn't manage to break free, ending up instead fighting to get to the surface for air.

The two were treading water about halfway to where the _Black Pearl_ waited. Will refused to let go of Jack, forcing both of them to balance themselves with one arm. His rich, tea-brown eyes were thick with solemn emotion, making the pirate captain give in with a frustrated sigh.

"What are you so worked up for, boy? Can't it wait 'til we're aboard and away from this forsaken place?"

"No. I want your answer now." Jack raised an inquiring brow at Will's determined tone. There were too many levels in that question, far too many to consider while they worked to stay afloat, waiting either to be rescued or killed. Although, come to think of it, where were the cannons? The gunfire?

"Tell me, _Captain_ Jack Sparrow, do you need me?"

The pirate's eyes narrowed, seeking out the cracks in Will's expression. Why this question? What was the young man truly seeking? He weighed his chances as he carefully pressed, "Ah, so you need _my_ judgment to decide whether or not it's worth leavin' your bonnie lass?" Something flashed across the brown eyes, but Jack couldn't decipher it – Will was like his father, unpredictable and well-guarded, unreadable.

"I've told you before, perhaps your obsession with treasure isn't the shiny kind. Get back where you belong. They pardoned you before, it'll happen again."

"Is that your answer?" Will demanded, hostility lacing his voice. Jack frowned, wondering what the boy wanted of him. "Give me a straight yes or no!"

"It all depends on your meanin'," Jack returned, the words passing his lips before he thought them through. Frustrated, he turned his head to look towards his ship. She was heading their way. Well, at least they weren't abandoning him. (Again.)

Will was silent, a hint of defeat lurking in his eyes as he looked away. Jack found himself studying the boy's smooth face, free of the lines of age that his father had carried. The unapproachable air didn't lurk about this young blood, despite the fierceness and strength that lay beyond an almost innocent mask. Yes... too many levels to that question and too many faces for this man that was so much like his father and yet was so very different.

_Do you need me?_

What a question! And what to answer? How should he take that? Did he need another able-bodied man to add to his crew? Did he need a friend, one of the first he'd made in a long time? Did he need someone who had been brought up respectable and then turned away from the old rules because he saw there was something more than the laws that bound him to society?

Jack let out a long sigh, glaring affectionately at the younger man. "Damn you boy for being so bloody cryptic. Just come with me, yer heart is that of a pirate, yearnin' for adventure. We can amaze the world and slip away under everyone's noses with anythin' we want!"

William's eyes returned to Jack's. His expression was guarded, but a look of relief touched the edges of his features. "We, Jack?" he inquired.

In a strange wash of understanding, Jack had the urge to pinch himself, to ensure that he wasn't dreaming. Smoothly, he returned, "We...? Yes... I think 'we' is being used properly. You don't?"

The younger man's eyes narrowed, but his lips were quirked up in amusement. "Do you need me?"

Jack laughed boldly as the _Pearl_ neared and a rope ladder descended. Both men grasped a rung at the same time, gazes locked. "Aye, sweet'eart," the pirate chuckled in an exaggerated play, "I have the feelin' that I'll be needin' you wherever we sail."

Will finally released his arm, smiling. Jack's countenance settled to a more subtle expression of contentment. "Climb aboard, we have the seven seas to travel, and many a maiden's heart to break. As long as you don't mind startin' with the one here?"

The former blacksmith craned his head back towards shore, his brown gaze carefully studying the settlement of Port Royale under the blazing sun. "We'll return – someday," he admitted, casting a sideways glance at Jack with a lop-sided grin. "I have to follow my own heart, right?"

Jack grasped the rope in both hands and began to climb up, a hidden smirk adorning his features as he did.

Fin

Was my first attempt and finished PotC fic, one of my earliest light-hearted pieces, too. I didn't change much in the way of updating the style/flow/feel of the fic, but I did fix little errors and tried to make things clearer.

August 3, 2003

_Revised July 16, 2006_


End file.
